Lesson 17: Anxiety Disorders

Attention

The first identification of PTSD came from the military...although they denied that it was as disabling as it turned out to be. It has been known by other names, such as "Stress Syndrome" and "Shell Shock" and "Battle Fatigue".

The Wikipedia source on this is actually quite interesting!

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able to:

• Research information that would be useful for a family to understand Anxiety

Teaching

Read Chapter 11 in Cohen & Eisdorfer

"Anxiety Disorders are among the most prevalent psychiatric conditions across all age groups" (Cohen and Eisdorfer, 2011)

I think the story regarding "EM" at the beginning of this chapter highlights the concept of how these mental illnesses can arise in an otherwise pretty normal life. Following an accident EM began to show a lot of symptoms that, at first, seemed like early stages of dementia, but turned out to be Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

The great thing about Anxiety Disorders is that they are very treatable!

When working in the Mental Health field we will come across a lot of people with some sort of Anxiety Disorder. While GAD, Panic Disorder, and specific Phobias might be present, it is my experience that the most common ailment is some form of PTSD, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

PTSD

Keep in mind that PTSD is considered an Anxiety Disorder...the symptoms of GAD that are described in the book are very similar to the symptoms that we see in our PTSD clients. The anxiety, however, is often focused on an event or set of events in the persons life.

It is said that the experience of PTSD, when triggered, is to re-experience the emotions that the person experienced during the trauma. So, a person with PTSD related to being raped will have the same emotional experiences when triggered...they will have the same emotions as if they are currently being raped! As you can likely tell, this can be highly disruptive.

Complex PTSD

Another diagnosis that we may come across fairly often in our work is Complex PTSD. This type of PTSD is often associated with long-term, ritualistic abuse and neglect.

Click HERE to view a great summary of the disorder from the VA. Some authors contend the Borderline Personality is better understood as Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Treatment

PTSD (and other Anxiety Disorders) are very treatable using a combination of Behavioral Therapy and pharmacological treatments. Medication can often take the "edge off" the sense of anxiety, while therapy focuses on changing behavioral problems associated with the anxiety...(i.e. what to do when the feelings start to get out of control).

Often the anxiety that someone feels is perpetuated by poor habits of thinking that exacerbate the emotional reactions. Feelings of impending doom and powerlessness predominate the individual's thinking and they can become anxious about THAT as well!

Working with Individuals with Anxiety

The key aspect of working with individuals with any Anxiety Disorder is to accept that the anxiety is truly disabling. It is not enough for us to say to someone to "not worry about it"...the thoughts they have are invasive and persistent, so the issue is just that...they can't see to stop thinking about it!

What if doctors could cure post-traumatic stress disorder with a single injection to the neck?

Assessment

Lesson 17 Assignment

I would like you to do some background research from reliable sources on the web. Research information about PTSD and Complex PTSD and put together a two-page brochure (two regular pages in your word processor) that contain information that you could provide a family of a person with either one of these diagnoses. (You may, if you wish, focus on Veterans coming home from war, a new and emerging client base in the Mental Health field.)

Consider what families would want to know about...etiology, symptoms, treatments, medications, what they can do at home...etc.

Creativity counts on this one...make this colorful, artistic, attractive to use, etc. In one section of the pamphlet you should include a list of the websites you used...they should be ones that the family may be interested in visiting as well.